Eating seasonally provides each and every one of us a cornucopia of awesome fruits, vegetables, fungi, meats and herbs. There is a spectrum of course. Some folks avoid “fresh” tomatoes in the winter and others dry their summer herbs to use the rest of the year. I would put us somewhere in the middle. We freeze summer produce and herbs, and never buy “fresh” summer produce in November or February. Though, with winter winding down here in the Northwest, I must admit I am truly tired of winter’s offerings.

Enough with the root vegetables already, let’s have ourselves some berries and morels and baby salad greens. Out with the kale and in with the chard (though you can grow both year-round it seems.) And man, am I ready for some fruit! Peaches, figs, plums, strawberries – bring it all, please! Oh. Wait a second. I forgot all about Spring. First Spring then Summer. First morels than chanterelles (in the fall.) Well, wait I must then wait I will.

This week’s menu reflects my weary creativity at the dinner table. To be honest, between the difficulty of my elimination diet and the anticipation of Spring, my meal planning skills are gearing down. I need some inspiration. I need to visit the Portland farmer’s market and see what’s fresh right now. Cause at this moment in time, this is all I could come up with:

• coconut curry with vegetables
• spaghetti and meatballs
• borscht with boiled potatoes

The minimalist menu here says 2 things – 1. This week we are eating outside the home a bit, and 2. I have no new ideas right now. For those of you who don’t know it, next week is the Jewish holiday of Passover and so the “Jewish Thanksgiving” (as I call it) is upon us. One night (if not two) we will attend a seder meal, and on Sunday we visit Japan with the cuisines of the world potluck.

In the coming week I have some new goals for myself and the blog. For one, I need to find out what’s in season and available this time of year and integrate new ideas into my meal-planning brain. I’m also eager to take up the suggestion of a reader (her comment) and write more about Portland’s local food scene. I’ve got some new ideas for research and writing and as these develop, I will share them with all of you.

Related posts:

1. Salad Salad Salad
2. Hearty Food Returns (weekly menu 18)
3. Freezer Madness and the Long Winter Ahead
4. The Last Dance with Kale (weekly menu 27)
5. Seasonality saves cost (weekly menu 7)

Tags: seasonal eating, weekly menu